


"High School Sweethearts"

by Lexebug



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Abusive Bro, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Dirk Strider and Dave's Bro Aren't the Same Person, F/F, F/M, House Party, Humanstuck, Libraries, M/M, Past Abuse, Rating May Change, Sloppy Makeouts, Summer Vacation, Swimming Pools, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-27 06:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12576244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexebug/pseuds/Lexebug
Summary: THIS FIC IS BEING ABANDONED. I'M REWRITING IT.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> ???????Homestuck???????  
>  Triggers will be posted before chapters

Dave was pressed up against a wall of lockers, the edges digging into his back, and with exactly zero personal space. Summer air was flooding in on a breeze from the open door just beyond the lockers. Dave could almost reach it, just a bit farther to the sweet freedom of summer. Except there were three obstacle between him and the door; namely, John, Jade and Rose. Which meant he was at least twenty minutes away from being out of this building. The seniors had to have their dumb clapout for their “celebration of leaving”. Damn, Dave would sure as hell be celebrating if he could get out of here. He guessed it was kind of sad to see them leaving; he had friends he wouldn’t get to see as much, fewer people with actual jobs to borrow money from for vending machine snacks. Dang, would he have to get a job now? 

His thoughts were cut short as the student body president paraded down the hall, skirt flowing and eyes bright. Feferi was widely viewed as the kindest, most scholarly student in the school, probably because she kind of was. Right now, she was in her element. She’d skipped a year in elementary, and was graduating at his age, and it was obvious she couldn’t be happier. She was passing out high fives, handshakes, and even kissed a few people on their cheeks as she went by. The rest of the seniors continued behind her, some embarrassed, others looking disgusted. Most seemed to be a combination of the two. 

Dave said his final goodbyes (were they really final? He lived in the same apartment building as some of these people) to some friends. He signed a congratulations to Kurloz, bumped knuckles with Rufio, tugged on Meenah’s braids and got slapped in the face. It was totally worth it. 

The line of students was dwindling, and near the end was someone Dave had, surprisingly, never seen before. Jet-black hair, too black to be natural, a healthy scattering of freckles, three different piercings in each ear. He was wearing an oversized gray hoodie with a 69 on the front in bright red. A sideways 69. Wasn’t that some sort of zodiac sign or something? Whatever it was, it looked good as hell on this dude. Dave bet most things would, or lack thereof. His eyes were shadowed by dark bags, and he looked royally pissed at everything. Dave really, really couldn’t resist. 

He reached out and tugged on his hoodie sleeve, putting on his most charming grin. “Hey handsome. Name’s Dave. Come here often?” Smooth as fuck, just like always. The mystery kid turned red, and stormed away, flipping Dave off as he left. At least he got a reaction. In the same bright red as the 69 on the front of his hoodie, a name was printed on the back. Vantas. 

“No luck then, Dave?” John asked, following Dave out of the school. “You’ll get someone next time, I bet.” Dave shook his head. He must have been bound and determined to have his heart broken, because he had already promised himself something.

“John Egbert, I swear on Rose’s life that I will get this boy to love me,” he said solemnly. Rose shoved him with her shoulder.

“Swear on your own life, asshole.” Dave grinned. Whether he got a cute boy to date him or not, it was summer, with his best friends, and he felt he had earned this small piece of freedom.


	2. Chapter 1

Dave felt the soft spray of water on his ankles as Jade pushed him backwards towards the lake, laughing loudly. He felt the water even more when John hit him in the head with a beach ball, scaring him so bad he fell backwards, a wave washing over his face. Sputtering and spitting curses, he scrambled back to his feet, shaking wet sand off his fingers. “Oh, Harley, you are gonna pay for that!” he yelled across the beach at the rapidly retreating girl. He was about to pursue her when he heard a high-pitched shriek, followed by what could only be described as an evil cackle. And the only person at this beach who could make that noise was Rose. Dave whipped his head around and saw John clawing at the sand as Rose dragged him backwards into the water, like some fucked-up sea monster in a purple tankini. 

Dirk grumbled on the drive home about how the four of them were getting his car sandy. Dave told him to shut up because Jade was sleeping. So were the other three, too. Dave joined them a few minutes later, cuddled up against John in the backseat. If Dirk was still angry, Dave wasn’t awake to hear it. When they pulled up to the Lalonde’s house, Dave pulled his sweaty back from the fake leather seat, wincing at the sting of pain. “Guys?” He asked, as the others slowly woke up. “Did we put on sunscreen? Like, any of us?” A few beats of silence followed this.

“Shit,” John said, very obnoxiously loudly. 

In the house, Dave towelled off his damp hair while Rose grabbed various objects from a drawer. “We’re drawing straws for who has to go buy aloe gel from the corner store,” she explained, and Dave shrugged, grabbing a straw from her outstretched hand.

“Are you shitting me?” He asked in disbelief, staring at the inch-long straw piece in his hand. “Rose, what the fuck is this?” Rose shrugged, giggling. John just made a shooing motion, and Jade was already digging in the freezer. 

“Get popsicles too, Dave!” She yelled, poking her head up from the freezer. He sighed loudly and grabbed the ten Rose offered him. Pushing up his shades, he started the (honestly pretty short) walk to the corner store near Rose’s place, flip-flops slapping against the sidewalk loudly. 

He stepped into the store, a recorded bell sound tinkling through the store. Dave didn’t look up; he could already see the freezers, and he was getting the good popsicles, dammit. He grabbed a box of on-brand popsicles, the kind Bro never used to let him buy, but Bro wasn’t here now, so fuck it, he got a box of on-brand fudgesicles too. “You guys got aloe here?” Dave asked on his way up to the counter, rummaging through the box of popsicles for a cherry one. He looked up into the face of the hot senior from the clapout. He was in a blue apron, store uniform, and wearing a name tag reading “Karkat”. 

“Well, hey there. Fancy meeting you here.” Dave flipped his shades down, winking. Karkat flares down at him. 

“Who are you exactly?” He asked, voice scratchy and deadpan and very, very nice.

“Dave Strider. We met at the clapout, I believe?” Dave leaned forward, flipping his hair out of his face. Karkat sighed loudly and reached under the counter, pulling out a bottle of aloe gel and slamming it on the counter. 

“Was there anything else you needed, sir?” He asked, eyes unfocused.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t use your customer service voice in me!” 

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but this is a store. You are a customer. And I am the service.” Dave rolled his eyes, but his mind was racing. He slowly placed the boxes of popsicles on the counter, playing for time. He had to see this guy again. 

“Uh, I’m having a party next weekend. At my house. Some people from school will be coming. You in? Karkat?” Karkat looked up from scanning the aloe, eyes wide.

“Um. Sure. Where is it? And what time?” Dave pulled a sticky note off of a pad on the counter and scribbled down John’s address and some random time, then handed it over with a flourish. Karkat took it, still unsmiling, but not glaring, either. 

“See you then, Vantas,” Dave called as he left the store. Karkat didn’t look up, but Dave wasn’t gonna be discouraged. Besides, he had seen him looking at the sticky note. He was coming.

“John!” Dave yelled, throwing a fudgesicle at Jade. “You ready to host a party next weekend?”

“What?”


	3. Chapter 2

“John? Where do you keep the Doritos?” Dave rummaged through John’s pantry, searching for the liquor his dad always hid at the back of the cabinet. Snagging a bottle of vodka and a half-full bottle of red wine, he pulled them out and set them down with the multitude of other bottles on the table. 

“I don’t know! We never buy them. We have Lays in the drawer, though.” Dave carefully adjusted the bowls of snacks on the table, grabbing a handful of pretzels. “Dave, people are here! Can you go get the door?” He flashed a thumbs-up to John on the way, who was putting all the breakable items up on higher shelves. His dad was out of town for the week, and wasn’t coming back until Monday. It was time to party.

Dave opened the door and held it open for the first guests, Rose and Roxy. “Hey, Dave! We brought cider!” Roxy said, handing him a bottle of nonalcoholic sparkling apple cider. 

“Sweet. This is going on the nonalcoholic table, ‘kay?” Rose ruffled his hair, and Dave grinned. 

A half-hour later, the house was packed. It felt like the entire high school was there. Dave was dancing with Cronus in John’s living room, and Cronus was getting a little handsy (read: very) and to be honest? Dave was here for it. He reached out for the bottle in Cronus’ hands, swiping it and chugging. He felt like he was forgetting something, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Until he heard a giant splash from outside and then a stream of curses and sputtering.

Dave pushed Cronus away and looked out the window. Sollux Captor was standing at the edge of the pool, bent double with laughter. In the pool, someone was floundering in the water, and then clambering out of the pool. Dave stepped out the back door and then crouched at the edge of the pool, offering a hand to the struggling individual. A freckles hand grabbed his wrist tight, and Dave worked to haul whoever it was out of the water. 

It took Dave’s addled brain a minute to recognize who he was even looking at, but he pushed a sopping-wet strand of black hair out of the person’s face, and was greeted by a look of utter contempt, directed behind him. “Solluxander Captor, I am going to fucking murder you!” the kid yelled, and the name finally clicked. 

“Karkat!” Dave screamed, grabbing his shoulders. Karkat looked over from flipping off Sollux. 

“Dave?” He asked, blinking water from his eyes. 

“You DO remember my name! You remember me!” Dave yelled, again. Damn, he was loud. It was great. Karkat rolled his eyes, and pushed off of Dave’s shoulder to stand up. 

“Of course, idiot. You invited me to this party, didn’t you?” He asked, walking over to Sollux, who literally squeaked in fear. Casually, like he was lifting up a cat, he picked Sollux up, bridal-style, and chucked him into the pool. 

“You guys got alcohol at this party?” He asked over Sollux’s panicked screaming about water temperature. 

“Uh, no shit, smartass. It’s inside. What kind of party do you think this is?” Karkat rolled his eyes, and followed Dave inside.

Dave realized he was probably coming off as weird, but at this point he didn’t really care. He’d found out Karkat hated party games, whiskey, and him. But he said that less angrily than the other things, so Dave was holding out some hope. After a half an hour of begging, he had Karkat seated in a circle with a dozen other people, with an empty Bud Light can in Damara’s hand. She spun it, and then leaned over to who it landed on, which happened to be Horrus. He giggled nervously, then leaned in towards her, until their lips met. 

Horrus got Rose, who got Cronus, who got John, and then John spun and landed on Dave. Dave crawled across the circle to him, and John laughed as their noses bumped before they kissed, sloppily and lazily and laughing. Vriska, John’s girlfriend, whooped behind them, and Dave seamlessly removed his hands from John’s neck and flipped her off with both fingers. John pushed him backwards, giggling, and sending him sprawling to the floor. Dave grabbed the can from him and made his way back to his spot, which seemed to have moved next to Cronus, somehow. 

Dave spun and watched the way it pointed, silently hoping he would get Karkat. Someone must have blessed him tonight, because the can slowed, and finally stopped, and pointed directly at Karkat’s surprised face. Dave stood up and wobbled over to Karkat, sitting directly in his lap. If he was forward, there was no way his intentions could possibly be taken the wrong way. At least, he hoped. Karkat sucked in a breath, and Dave took that as a cue to lean forward and press their lips together.

Karkat, however, apparently took that as a threat, or was maybe too drunk to understand what was going on. Because instead of kissing back, he sank his teeth into Dave’s lip. Hard. “Ow! Fuck!” Dave yelled, pulling his head back. The taste of copper was quickly taking over the tang of alcohol. Karkat smirked, and wow, how did he manage to look amazing even when he just finished being an absolute asshole.

“I told you I hate party games, asshole,” Karkat said, climbing to his feet and stumbling off. Dave went after him, game forgotten. 

Dav found Karkat sitting on John’s counter, drinking straight out of a bottle of Fireball. “Thought you said you didn’t like whiskey.”

Karkat shrugged. “Couldn’t find the wine.” Dave nodded sagely and Karkat scooted over on the counter. Dave hopped up and scooted close to him, swinging his leg over Karkat’s. “You one of those fucking cuddly drunks?” He asked, passing him the bottle. Dave took a drink, coughing as it burned down his throat.

“I’ve been called worse,” he said, pulling Karkat’s hand toward him and lacing their fingers together.

“Do you do this with anyone when you’re drunk? Or am I special?” Dave leaned his head against Karkat’s chest, shifted closer. It was soft, but strong. Dave reached a hand up to Karkat’s bicep, and gasped quietly.

“You could fucking bench press me, dude. You could deadlift the shit out of me.” Karkat laughed, and it was just as rough and raw as his voice. Did he smoke, maybe? 

“Hey, do you think Sollux ever got out of the pool?” Karkat stroked his fingers through Dave’s hair, and Dave sighed happily. “You’re like….a cat. Like a cat that likes being petted.” 

“Meow, bitch.” Karkat scratched at his scalp gently, and Dave let his eyes close. Let his breathing sync with Karkat’s, and let himself slowly drift off.

Dave woke up the next morning in someone else’s bed. There were at least three other people in bed with him, and he didn’t know who. Two of them were snoring. Dave pushed someone off of his torso and stumbled to the bathroom, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. Leaning against the counter, he splashed cold water on his face. His shades were missing. Weird. 

A hand to his temple, he made his way back to the bed he had figured out was John’s. Mituna was starfished in the middle of the bed, Rufioh was curled up on the pillow, and Jade was at the foot of the bed, half-falling off. Dave was wearing jeans, someone else’s shirt, and had no idea where his phone or shades were. 

Jade sat up and promptly rolled off the bed, groaning. “Hey, Dave,” she said groggily. “You know where John keeps ibuprofen?” He pointed to the bathroom, and Jade wobbled in that direction. 

“Morning, babe,” someone said, far too loudly for this early in the morning. “I think you have my shirt.” Dave turned and saw Cronus, unlit cigarette in his mouth and shirtless. 

“Well where the hell is my shirt then? And where were you?” Cronus shrugged.

“I woke up in the kitchen. Shirtless. And that is my shirt.” Dave pulled it off, and tossed it to him. “Thanks, chief.” 

“Aren’t you hungover? I saw you do at least ten shots last night.” Cronus shrugged, almost smugly.

“I don’t get hangovers. Lucky me, I guess!” Dave glared at him, and went out to the living room to try and find Dirk. Maybe they could go home and Dave could properly sleep. 

He walked into the living room and found Karkat on the floor, asleep. Actually, maybe dead. “Yo, dimwit, wake up,” he said, trying not to be too loud. He poked Karkat with his foot and Karkat snorted, turning over onto his back.

“Oh. Morning,” Karkat said through a yawn. “Why are you shirtless?” Dave shrugged.

“I don’t remember most things after falling asleep on the counter last night. Just, like, a lot of tequila. I woke up wearing Cronus’ shirt. No idea how that happened.” Karkat looked down and pulled at the shirt he was wearing.

“Why am I wearing your shirt?” Dave looked down, and yep, that was his shirt. “I’m so confused.” 

“Me too, buddy. Me too.”


	4. Chapter 3

Dave tossed laundry into the washing machine, three pieces at a time. It was laundry day, and it was Dave’s turn. Dirk was doing dishes instead. He grabbed the last thing in the basket, a pair of jeans, and remembered to check the pockets. Last time he had forgotten, and had to buy new earbuds. 

In the front right pocket, something was crinkling. Dave pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, and unfolded it. Maybe from the party? A phone number was scrawled on it in cramped, messy handwriting. Dave threw the jeans in and and started the machine, then sat down and leaned against it to type the number into his phone.

Dave: hey, who is this? Got ur number at john’s party.

Unknown Number: THIS IS KARKAT

Dave: oh hey karkat! it’s dave. idk when I got it, but it was in my pocket.

Unknown Number: OKAY. I THINK I REMEMBER THAT.

Dave gave Karkat a contact name. He had a number! This was going great!

Karkat: SO SERIOUSLY, DID SOLLUX EVER GET OUT OF THAT POOL?

Dave: yeah, I think so. He’ll be fine. Anyway, how’re you?

Karkat: KINDA SUCKY. I HAVE HOMEWORK.

Dave: dude, it’s summer. 

Karkat: IM TRYING TO GET INTO COLLEGE, IDIOT. 

Dave: oh yeah, I forgot you’re going into college now. wanna meet up to study sometime? 

Karkat: IF YOURE SERIOUS ABOUT THAT OFFER, ARE YOU GOOD AT PHYSICS?

Dave: hell yes I’m good at physics. I’m the fuckin physics master. 

Karkat: CAN YOU MEET ME AT THE LIBRARY SOMETIME TODAY? IM FUCKING LOST.

Dave was already upstairs, throwing on shoes and grabbing the keys from the hook by the door. “Dirk, I’m going to the library!” 

“Why?” 

“Uh...books?” Dirk shrugged. 

Dave: be there in ten.

He pulled into the library parking lot and parked, then did his best to adjust his hair and shades to look like a cool, collected, studious young man. It wasn’t working. He sighed and went inside anyway. Karkat was sitting in the teen section, staring down at a massive textbook, hands fisted in his hair.

“‘Sup.” Dave slid into the seat next to him. Karkat looked up, red in the face. 

“Thank fuck, Strider. Help.” Dave leaned over his shoulder, shifting close enough that their legs touched under the table. Karkat pointed out passages and problems he didn’t understand, and Dave did his best to explain them. Turned out college-level physics was basically the same stuff as high school physics, and that physics was the one class Karkat got a B- in. 

“It just doesn’t make sense to me! I can’t think the way they want me to to solve the problem.” Karkat’s hand was in Dave’s now, and Dave was stroking Karkat’s knuckle with his thumb. 

“Cmon, let’s try again. We’ve only got a few more questions now,” Dave soothed. At some point he’d taken Karkat’s pen, and was doodling absently on his paper.

“Dude, are you drawing hearts?” Dave looked down; huh. He was. “Stop messing up my paper with your romanticized organs.” Dave snorted.

“They’re just hearts, dude. Chill out. It’ll add flair to your paper.” He switched to drawing stars, though. 

An hour and a half later, Karkat threw down his pen in victory. “We did it!!” Dave grinned at him. 

“Hey, you wanna go do something? Y’know, to celebrate this shit?” Shit, he probably shouldn’t have asked that. This wasn’t a date. And he’d gotten his hopes up again, and Karkat was turning red, and he probably didn’t even like dudes. Another failed chance. 

“Yeah. That’s-That’d be fun. Where do you want to go?” Karkat wasn’t looking at him; he was staring at the table. But he wasn’t saying no, either.

They ended up at Dairy Queen. Dave was sitting with a small cone and stealing bites of Karkat’s Blizzard, and they were having a heated argument about Harry Potter.

“Okay, no. Hermione wasn’t annoying. Hermione was an iconic role model for young girls everywhere, and a well-developed character who is also a genuinely good person.” Karkat slammed his fist on the table, and Dave laughed.

“I’m just saying, she was kind of stuck-up. Like, oh, I’m Hermione Granger, I am so smart and much better than Ron, y’know?”

“No, Dave, I don’t know. She wasn’t stuck up! She was just way smarter than any of the other main characters, and she used that for good!!!” Dave wasn’t nearly as invested in the argument as Karkat was, obviously. He was just happy to be here with him. 

“Well, at least you don’t think Snape was a hero,” Dave said, and Karkat nodded. 

“Okay, I’m tired of talking about Harry Potter. What about you? Talk about you,” Karkat said, snatching a spoonful of ice cream from Dave’s cone. 

“Um.” Dave didn’t know where to start. He wasn’t exactly an interesting person. “I wear shades because I have weird eyes and Bro told me I should hide them. These are actually Ben Stiller’s actual shades; I threw out the ones Bro gave me years ago.” Karkat laughed. 

“How exactly did you get Ben Stiller’s sunglasses?”

“Ask John, man. The dude works some hella birthday magic.” Dave smiled at Karkat, which apparently distracted him enough that Dave could eat more of his Blizzard.

“Okay. I live with my older brother Dirk, and I used to live with my oldest brother, who….I don’t even know his real name? I always called him Bro, and he was a shitty dude. But he’s moved out now, so it’s just me and Dirk. Dirk makes really good pancakes. I don’t think there’s anything else to talk about; I’m not exactly someone with a cool backstory.” Karkat shrugged.

“Seems pretty cool to me.”

Dave smiled. “Well, what about you? What’s your dramatic backstory?” 

Karkat stirred his quickly-melting ice cream. “My dad left when I was like….6 months old? He left me with Kankri and his girlfriend, but then she left too. Got bounced to an aunt’s house for a while, then when Kankri turned eighteen we bought an apartment, I got a job as soon as I could, and we both graduated a year early. He works as some sort of legal dude, got a lucky break, so we actually aren’t dirt fucking poor anymore. Still eat a lot of ramen, though. I think Kankri just likes it.” Dave laughed.

“Okay, but now what about you? Like, you as a person. What’s your favorite food?” He paused for a second.

“Ramen. It grows on you, man!” 

“Color?”

“Red.”

“Hey, me too. Animal?”

“Fiddler crab.”

“Pattern?” 

“Chevron stripes.”

“If you were a drink, what would you be?” 

“Vodka.” 

Dave put his hands up, laughing. “Calm down, edgelord, Jesus. At least you didn’t say bleach.” Karkat laughed at that, a for-real laugh. It was borderline magical.

Dave’s phone buzzed, and he picked it up to see a text from Dirk, asking for the car back. He had a show to go to. “Shit, man, I gotta go. You need a ride home?” Karkat shook his head. 

“I live like a block and a half away from here. I’ll be okay. Thanks, though.” He smiled at Dave, and Dave grinned back.

“Text me, okay?” Karkat nodded, and waved goodbye as Dave ran over to the car and drove away. Dave reached a hand up to his face, and realized he was still smiling. 

He got home and literally threw the keys at Dirk, who caught them with only a slight fumble, and then ran to his room. Flopping into his bed, he pulled out his phone and texted his best helper: Jade.

Striderrr: jade 

Striderrr: jade this boy is so cute

Striderrr: i have to win his heart

Certified Furry: okay so what you want to do first is make your intentions clear 

Certified Furry: have you tried kissing him 

Striderrr: yes

Certified Furry: did it go well?

Striderrr: we were both drunk, and no

Certified Furry: just ask him out then! For real! 

Striderrr: what if he says no??? 

Striderrr: jade you don’t understand he’s so out of my league

Certified Furry: Dave, the ‘league’ is a construct!! You can get anyone you want to!

Striderrr: okay what do I say

Certified Furry: “hey, cute boy, you are very attractive. Do you happen to not be straight? And/or interested in me? Wanna go out sometime?”

Striderrr: oh shit he’s texting me

Dave fumbled with his phone and got to Karkat’s message finally.

Karkat: HEY, THANKS FOR COMING OUT TO HELP ME TODAY. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

Dave: no problem dude! it was fun.

Karkat: WE SHOULD HANG OUT AGAIN SOMETIME. JUST US.

Dave literally dropped his phone, then picked it back up, screenshotted the conversation, and sent it to Jade.

Striderrr: JADE IS THIS A DATE IS HE ASKING ME OUT

Striderrr: Media Message

Certified Furry: Make your move Dave!!! Go get ‘im!

Dave took a shaky breath and went back to Karkat’s screen. 

Dave: that’d be fun

Karkat’s typing bubble popped up, and stayed for about a minute. Dave waited. 

Karkat: ARENT THE LALONDES HAVING A PARTY THIS WEEKEND?

Dave: yeah, i think so. you wanna go w/ me?

Karkat: HELL YEAH MAN. 

Dave almost screamed.


	5. Chapter 4

The Lalonde’s party was tonight, and Dave was staring at his closet, lost. What did he wear for a date? For a party with a friend? Was this a date? A platonic date? Rose was coming over with Kanaya to help him figure out what to wear, but he at least wanted to try. Standing in front of the mirror, he lifted one shirt to his chest, then the other. What did he choose? There was a loud knock on the door, and Dave said loudly, “Thank God.” And went to go let them in.

Kanaya waved as Rose dragged her past Dave, right towards Dave’s room. Dave grinned at her and followed them. Rose was already combing through the hangers in his closet, and pulled out a red suit jacket with a white bowtie clipped to it. “Why the fuck do I even own this?” Dave asked, holding it up. 

“I don’t know, but you’re wearing it. It’s semi formal. Karkat is gonna love you in this,” Rose said, grabbing a black button down. 

“Hey, who said anything about Karkat? Maybe I just want to go to a party.” 

Rose held the shirt up to his chest, and Kanaya eyeballed him, looking for….something. “Jade did.”

Dave rolled his eyes and hoped he wasn’t blushing as Kanaya pulled black pants from his drawer and threw them at him, hitting him in the face. “Now change!” She said, laughing and pulling Rose from the room.

Dave stepped out a few moments later, pulling at his collar. Kanaya whistled. “Yes, this will be perfect.” Rose held the door open for him on the way out, and he swaggered outside, striking a pose when he hit the sidewalk. Rose laughed, and he climbed into the backseat of her car. It was time to party, but calmer this time, because the Lalonde place was alcohol-free, officially. Good for them.

On the way there, Dave pulled out his phone to text Karkat.

Dave: you almost there? im almost there

Karkat: YEAH. WAS I SUPPOSED TO WEAR SOMETHING FANCY?

Dave: i mean, I am, but that’s because rose and kanaya came over and forced me to put on a suit i didn’t know i owned.

Karkat: WELL SHIT. 

Dave: i think I’m gonna be the outsider here. rose and kanaya are both wearing jeans and t-shirts.

Dave: were here!

Dave hopped out of the car and ran up to hold the door. “Young men hold the door for ladies, as is custom,” He crooned, and Rose flicked him in the forehead, giggling. 

“Dave! Welcome! Drinks are on the table, there’s music over there, snacks, et cetera!” Roxy came around a corner, rocking a sparkly pink skirt and black crop top. “You’re a little early; there’s only a few other people. They’re in the living room!” She winked at him, and he smiled nervously. Walking in, he saw literally two people; Kurloz and Karkat. Karkat was doing his best to fingerspell, and it was horrendously bad. Kurloz looked like he was holding back laughter. 

As soon as they saw Dave, Kurloz signed that he was “getting some drinks” and left, very quickly, leaving Dave with Karkat. He looked...he looked good. Nice. He was in a black suit jacket with a gray shirt, and black pants. He was even wearing a tie, bright red. He cleared his throat, anxiously. Karkat spoke first.

“You look really good, Dave,” he said, voice almost shaking. Was he nervous?

“You too. Wanna go find the board games?” Karkat’s face lightened, at least a bit.

“What kind of party is this? No alcohol, board games; is there even gonna be dancing? Pitiful.”

Dave laughed. “You’d be surprised, man. I used to think Roxy was weird and kinda hyper all the time because she was always drunk; turns out that’s just her personality. It’s gonna be great. Now, are we playing Uno or not?” Karkat smiled, and followed Dave to the shelf of games.

Three games of Uno and half a bottle of cider later, Dave had gotten Karkat to open up more. He was now cursing violently every time he got hit with a Draw Two, and calling Dave various insulting names whenever he put something down. Dave was throwing back insults as fast as Karkat gave them out, and honestly this was more fun than the last party. The Lalondes knew how to throw a party. At that moment, Roxy stuck her head in the doorway. “It’s time, y’all! Spin The Bottle! You coming?” Dave looked at Karkat, who rolled his eyes and stood up. 

“Come on, doofus. Let’s get this over with, because I know I’m not leaving without playing at least one party game.” Dave grinned, and they followed Roxy into the dining room. The rest of the guests were already sitting, with an empty Coke bottle in the middle. There were way fewer people than at Dave’s party, and they all seemed way chiller. Maybe too chill, actually. Hard to play spin the bottle when you’re this calm.

Dave sat down, Karkat sitting next to him, and Roxy took the bottle and sat. “Okay guys! If you don’t want to kiss, you can hug or do cheek kisses or an elaborate handshakes or something! Whatever you want!” With that, she spun the bottle, sending it clattering across the floor. It landed on Eridan, Cronus’ younger brother. He grinned sheepishly and Roxy went over and pecked him on the lips. “And so the game begins!” She cheered.

Overall, it was pretty calm, for a while. John managed to get Vriska, who was his actual girlfriend, and that was vaguely sweet, Dave guessed. Dirk spun and landed on Tavros, Rufioh’s brother, who literally squeaked when Dirk kissed him on the cheek. It was kind of endearing. Tavros then ended up kissing Karkat, who puckered up his lips, making him laugh. 

When Karkat spun, Dave got hit with some serious nostalgia. This was basically how they met. The bottle was almost done, looked like it was leaning towards Kanaya, and then Jade reached over and “accidentally” tapped the bottle, shifting it over. Right towards Dave. She winked at him, and moved back to her place. Dave felt his face heating up, but he turned to face Karkat. “So… this is reminiscent of something, isn’t it?” He asked, and Karkat snorted.

“Don’t make me bite you again, asshole.” Gently, his hand came up to Dave’s face, fingertips barely brushing his face. “Are we doing a kiss?” He asked, and Dave nodded. He watched as Karkat leaned forward, and then he was leaning in, too. They met somewhere in the middle, and it was already way, way better than the first time. Mostly because he wasn’t bleeding, but also because Karkat’s lips were really soft and his hand was warm, and he started to move his lips gently. Karkat did the same, moving his hand up to Dave’s hair, carding through it gently. Dave was the one to pull away, breathing softly into the little space between them. 

“Dave! Your turn!” John said, oblivious to whatever deep, meaningful thing just happened. Dave backed away, blinking up at Karkat, who looked kind of shell-shocked. He grabbed the bottle and spun, landing on Roxy, who left a massive black lipstick stain on his cheek. He sat back, watching the rest of the proceedings, when he felt a hand on top of his. He looked over; Karkat had laid his hand on top of Dave’s, and was looking away. Dave grinned, and flipped his hand palm-up, then laced their fingers together. He thought he saw Karkat smile out of the corner of his eye. 

The rest of the party was pretty uneventful, except for the clear tension between Dave and Karkat. John kept shooting him confused looks in between rounds of Apples to Apples, when he and Karkat would scoot their chairs closer together. 

Karkat kept finding times to pat Dave’s head, or run a hand through his hair, or trace a finger down his neck. This was new, and definitely not unwelcome. In return, Dave would grab Karkat’s hand, palm-up, and trace his life line, love line, make circles around the calluses on his palms. 

At the end of the night, they all got sent home with a tasteful goody bag with two condoms and a fun-size Snickers in it. Roxy was always good at making hostess gifts. “Yo, Dirk, we heading out?” Dave asked, tapping him on the shoulder. Dirk turned around, and Dave saw he was talking to some dude who looked like a hybrid of John and Jade. Weird.

“Hey, Dave, shit. I forgot you were here. Uhhh, Jake, do you want to, um-“ Dirk scratched at the back of his neck, looking at Dave with what would be a neutral expression to anyone else, but Dave saw it for what it was; begging. He sighed inwardly, and resigned himself to fate.

“Actually, wait, Rose said she could give me a ride. I’ll go hunt her down. See ya later, Dirk,” he said, waving over his shoulder as he headed in a random direction. Hopefully Rose would give him a ride. 

Dave didn’t find Rose, but he did find Karkat. He’d taken off his suit jacket, rolled up the cuffs of his sleeves. When Dave stepped in, he stood up, shuffling his feet. “Hey, Dave, I heard you talking to Dirk. You need a ride?”

“You have a car?” Dave asked, and Karkat nodded.

“So, if you ever need a ride somewhere, or like, home, or-ugh. Sorry. I’m bad at talking.” He looked at the floor, and he looked so nervous Dave almost laughed.

“Actually, I do need a ride home; I’m pretty sure Dirk is going home with that Jake dude. Can you?” Karkat nodded, and Dave followed him out to his car. It was a beat-up minivan, tan, and dented on both ends. Inside, Dave sat down on the faux leather seats, and Karkat started the car.

For the first few minutes, they didn’t talk. Karkat turned on the radio; Dave stared out the window. Finally, Dave turned to Karkat, who was gripping the wheel very tightly, staring directly ahead, brows furrowed. “Yo. Kat. Is something wrong?” Dave leaned over and brushed his fingers against Karkat’s arm. He closed his eyes, and sighed. Dave waited; something was coming. 

“Dave. Um,” Karkat started, face angled towards Dave but eyes darting away. “I. Uh. Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, taking a hand away from the wheel and burying his face in it.

“Yo, eyes on the fo suite road,” Dave said, pulling Karkat’s hand off his face. “C’mon, dude, you can talk to me.” Karkat groaned, frustrated. 

“Listen-I think I like you, okay? And I get it if you hate me. I mean, that’d fucking suck, but-” Dave squeezed his hand tightly.

“Pull over.”

“What? Is something wrong?” Dave’s head was swimming, angels were practically singing, and he had something he needed to do. 

“Trust me, there is.” Karkat pulled to the side of the road, under a streetlamp, casting Dave worried looks. As for Dave, his heart was pushing against his ribs like it was trying to get out. As soon as the car was put in park, Karkat took a breath, probably preparing some sort of apology, but Dave didn’t let him. He unbuckled and clambered across the divider until he was on top of Karkat, perched in his lap. Whatever words had been boiling in Karkat’s throat had died there, because his mouth was hanging open, face red, and no sound was coming out. “The problem is you didn’t tell me this before, I’ve been waiting so fucking long for this, goddamnit Vantas. Can I kiss you?” Karkat stared, and Dave knew his face was bright red, but he didn’t care, because Karkat was nodding, so Dave leaned down and grabbed his collar and pressed their lips together. 

For the first time, they weren’t drunk, or playing a shitty party game. This was them. And it was warm and soft and Karkat’s hair was so light and fluffy, his hands so delicately rested on the back of his neck, and Dave felt electric. 

When Dave pulled back, Karkat stared at him for a second, face dusted with red, and then Dave quirked his mouth to the side and Karkat laughed, loudly, genuinely. He moved his hands around Dave and pulled him in, hands splayed on his back, and held him close. Dave grinned into his shoulder and squeezed Karkat, tight.

They pulled apart, and Dave crawled back to the passenger seat. As Karkat started driving again, Dave reached out and pulled one of his hands off the wheel, lacing their fingers together. It was dark as they pulled onto the highway, but Dave was sure he saw Karkat smile. 

Karkat pulled up next to Dave’s apartment building, and Dave let his hand go. “Thanks, dude,” he said, and Karkat scratched at the back of his neck. Quickly, Dave leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, then practically jumped out of the car. He waved goodbye to Karkat, running inside. He had to tell Jade, IMMEDIATELY.

One disappointing announcement of a broken elevator and twelve flights of stairs later, Dave flopped onto the couch, panting. Fumbling for his phone, he was surprised to see a message already on the screen. Why did Dirk text him? He was busy with Jake.

Dirk: Hey, just so you know-Bro called tonight. My cell. No idea how he got the number.

Dave: holy shit dude. what did you do? 

Dirk: He said he wanted to come visit and see his ‘baby bros’. I told him to fuck off. 

Dave: good. he better not show up expecting hospitality or someshit. ive still got scars from six fucking years ago.

Dirk: Yeeeeep. I’m on my way home. See you soon?

Dave: yeah sure can’t wait 

Dave pushed his shades up, a nervous tic, and curled up in the very corner of the couch. Hands trembling, he pulled up Netflix on his phone and got some shitty kids show up, waiting for it to load, please load, for the love of god load. He was descending into full-body tremors, his breathing was speeding up, and his heart was beating far too fast to be healthy. He strived for some positive thing to think of: Dirk said he wouldn’t let Bro come, Bro wasn’t even here, Bro wasn’t going to be here. 

The show wasn’t distracting enough; the high voices were grating, tinny music stabbing his ears. He had to have action; he was going to fall to pieces if he let himself keep shaking. Rolling off the couch, he fumbled under it, wincing when his fingertips slid along the blade hidden underneath. At least he’d found it; sucking the blood off his finger, he pulled the sword free from the bottom of the couch, and started the journey up to the roof. Just like old times.

He spent the better part of three hours up on the roof. Dirk must have come home at some point; Dave thought he might have heard the roof door open, but close swiftly. By the end of the night, Dave’s sword was dented and bent and half-broken from hitting the walls of the roof, over and over. The old bricks were scratched and scraped. Dave himself was drenched in sweat, panting, bleeding from a few cuts, missteps, from when he went down. He ran a hand through his hair and started plodding back downstairs.

Dirk was waiting on the sofa, shades off, looking oddly vulnerable. Open. “Hey, c’mere. I’ve got the kit, we need to get you bandaged. Actually, wait-shower first.” Dave nodded, exhausted, tossing the ruined sword in the trash. 

Dave showered, put band-aids on his scratches and scrapes, let Dirk help him wrap the more severe ones. Fell into his bed at the end of it all, feeling spent. Empty. Of energy, of emotion. At least he wasn’t worried anymore. 

Dave: gn kitkat. 

He was almost asleep, when his phone buzzed in his hand.

Karkat: NIGHT DOOFUS.

Karkat: <3

Dave: <3


End file.
